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New Tally Confirms an Upset in Primary

Regina Seltzer, a political outsider who challenged Representative Michael P. Forbes after he switched from Republican to Democrat, will be the Democratic Congressional nominee for the East End of Long Island, a recount confirmed today.

Ms. Seltzer, 71, who works without pay as an environmental lawyer from her home in Bellport, defeated Mr. Forbes in the Democratic primary last week by 35 votes, with 6,077 votes, or 50.14 percent. Mr. Forbes had 6,042, or 49.86 percent. After the primary on Sept. 12, Ms. Seltzer was initially thought to have won by 39 votes.

She now becomes a decided underdog in the First Congressional District race against the Republican candidate, Felix J. Grucci Jr., who is the town supervisor of Brookhaven.

Ms. Seltzer thanked primary voters today, saying: ''Contrary to all the political pundits who said I was not going to win, who said you can't fight against someone with $1.2 million, a third-term incumbent. They believed in me, supported me, and contributed funds to my campaign. They won, they really won.''

''His position and Felix Grucci's positions are indistinguishable,'' she said. ''We won against Forbes, and I think we're going to win against Felix.''

She plans to campaign the way she did for the primary, ''friend to friend, neighbor to neighbor,'' she said. ''We're going to get people to come out because they know every one of their votes is indispensable.''

''I think it's clear that this race and the Democratic nominee were selected by the Republicans,'' he said, noting the mailings and polls Republicans conducted against him and in support of his opponent. ''I think they're going to be surprised by a feisty, issue-oriented, grass-roots Democrat like Reggie Seltzer.''

He said that he would support her, and that it would be up to Ms. Seltzer to determine how he would help.

When asked how Mr. Forbes could help her campaign, Ms. Seltzer said that he could contribute to it. She also said he could return $180,000 he had received from the Democratic State Committee for political advertising and ask the committee to give that amount to her.

''Then we would have a very good financial basis to fight Grucci,'' she said.

Mr. Forbes said he did not yet have clear plans about what to do with what was left of his campaign money. He said that federal law did not allow him to give more than $1,000 to Ms. Seltzer. ''I can't just hand it off to her,'' he said, noting that he still had to pay bills and close out the campaign account.

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Mr. Forbes said he did not wish he had run his campaign differently. ''I have a sign outside my office that says, 'This office on loan by the people of Brookhaven, Smithtown and the five East End towns,' '' he said.

The race was an anomaly, he said, because he had switched parties and had known he would face a challenging contest for what had been considered a safe seat for the Republicans.

''When I made a decision a year and a half ago to switch parties, it was because I believed that the Democrats better reflect the concerns of a majority of Americans today, that the very small clique that's running the national Republican Party has abandoned their grass roots in places like Long Island.

''I am honored to be a Democrat,'' he said. ''It was the right decision to make then, and it is even more correct today.''

He does not have specific plans for his return to private life.

''I'm very much a Long Island boy,'' he said. ''I was born, bred, and raised there. That's where my family is, and that's where I will be.''

Representative Gary Ackerman, a Democrat from the Fifth Congressional District, which includes parts of Queens and the North Shore of Long Island, praised Mr. Forbes's decision to switch parties as ''a matter of great principle,'' especially when his re-election as a Republican had been nearly assured.

''His prospects depend on his desires,'' said Mr. Ackerman, who had discussed the political conversion with Mr. Forbes. ''But certainly we owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for exhibiting courage and walking away from the Gingrich people. That's worth something.''

The office of Mr. Grucci said he was not available for comment today, but Howard C. DeMartini, the senior strategist for his campaign, who is a former Suffolk County Republican chairman, said Mr. Grucci looked forward to discussing the issues with Ms. Seltzer.

''It comes as no surprise to us that Mr. Forbes lost the primary because we have said from the very beginning that if he was challenged by a real Democrat, he would lose the primary,'' he said. ''Now people have a choice between a mainstream Republican and a liberal Democrat in the general election.'' He said debates between the candidates were planned, but no dates had been set.

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A version of this article appears in print on September 20, 2000, on Page B00006 of the National edition with the headline: New Tally Confirms an Upset in Primary. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe